Vintage Lighting GAM Access!

[Les]

So my most recent find was this new-old-stock GAM Access board. I love 'vintage' equipment, but even more so when it appears to be useful! The seller must have (or had) connections, because they also threw in some sample gels and current catalogs. I haven't looked closely at the gels, but there must be 6 or 8 full sheets. They appear to be defects (mostly wrinkled on the edges - at least judging by the one I pulled out).

Not a bad haul for well under $100. It looks like the seller has another Access listed if you check the 'bay. I'm obviously not affiliated (so it could be a mistake) but there's another one up there from the same seller; starting price $25. Mine also came the Cue Card, manual and a working TTL monitor with zero burn-in! The menu shows a copyright of 1990 and the unit is 5-pin DMX. Yeah, yeah, 1985 wants their console back ;-).

 

[derekleffew]

Um, congratulations?

A guy I know/work with owns 3 GAM Access Boards, that he uses for parts to make one of them work. I think my school has run our last few shows off of them. It's a great little board.

From Memory Lighting Control Systems, History - ControlBooth :

1985, GAM Access (reportedly cost $140 to build, retailed for ~$1799)

It was once known, in some circles at least, as the ETC "Vision-buster."

Now to find a deserving community theatre to [-]curse[/-] give it a good home.

----
Question for STEVETERRY or other olde phart(s):
How can this be a 1985 console with DMX, when USITT DMX-512 didn't happen until summer of 1986? Were the first ones analog-only? CD80? I don't remember.
Les, is there a date of manufacturer anywhere on the board?

I last used one in 1992, I think. Didn't use it all that much in Chicago, but vaguely remember when it first came out.

 

[STEVETERRY]

Question for STEVETERRY or other olde phart(s):
How can this be a 1985 console with DMX, when USITT DMX-512 didn't happen until summer of 1986? Were the first ones analog-only? CD80? I don't remember.

Access first came out in 1985 with Analog outputs only. There was a DMX512 output module created once the standard was ratified. Note that a lot of products actually came out in 1985-6 before the standard was ratified. ETC, LMI, and Production Arts did not wait for the ratification.

The order-of-magnitude price drop caused by Access ($2,495 list as I recall) caused other manufacturers to respond--like ETC with Microvision.

Unfortunately Access used soft keys a bit too much for the taste of the market, and it was hard to remember where things were hidden. Also, no floppy disk--just a PCMCIA-like memory card. GAM sold a lot of them, but the Microvision took over that slot in the market.

I wrote a review of Access for Lighting Dimensions--I will look to see if I have a copy to scan.

ST

 

[Les]

The Access does use a lot of soft keys. I think one could get used to it; but it's not the most intuitive. Luckily, the order of operations/programming syntax makes reasonable sense. There is no "release" key -- you hit a soft key to 'clear all channels'. Kind of confusing, but probably primarily because I've been working with it without being connected to dimmers so there's no visual "hey, those lights are still on".

The board is a bit flimsy. Surely wouldn't take much abuse (build quality is on standard with the ADJ Scene Setter) though the software is more theatrically useful (minus the softkeys).

Speaking of; while there is no mfg date on the console, the software is (c)1990.

 

[zmb]

Perfect for some of my shows I design. Mid-20s channel count with some fast transitions that are a challenge on a two-scene board. Just need something that would do cues and a patch. Unfournately, no such modern version exists...

 

[JChenault]

Perfect for some of my shows I design. Mid-20s channel count with some fast transitions that are a challenge on a two-scene board. Just need something that would do cues and a patch. Unfournately, no such modern version exists...

Take a look at computer based boards. Good price point. Lots of flexibility. Since you are in the seattle area, I could arrange for a loan/beta of Plexus if you are interested.

 

[aboucher]

Is there a part number or model number on the cue card? I am looking for a cheap cue card for my GAM Access board, but I don't know what kind it takes.

 

[church]

Is there a part number or model number on the cue card? I am looking for a cheap cue card for my GAM Access board, but I don't know what kind it takes.

I also have one of these on the shelf with the cue card. It was NIB when it came into my posession. I did check with GAM 2 years ago and they still had some cue cards but they wanted $150 each for the. They are a custom card.